• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.150-159
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• 2013

It is generally well known that the stratification of thermal energy in heat stores can be improved by increasing the aspect ratio (the height-to-width ratio) of the stores. Accordingly, it will be desirable to apply a high aspect ratio so as to demonstrate the good thermal performance of heat stores. However, as the aspect ratio of a store increases, the height of the store become larger compared to its width, which may be unfavorable for the structural stability of the store. Therefore, to determine an optimum aspect ratio of heat stores, a quantitative mechanical stability assessment should be performed in addition to thermal performance evaluations. In the present study, we numerically investigated the mechanical stability of silo-shaped rock caverns for underground thermal energy storage at different aspect ratios. The applied aspect ratios ranged from 1 to 6 and the mechanical stability was examined based on factor of safety using a shear strength reduction method. The results from the present study showed that the factor of safety of rock caverns tended to decrease with the increase in aspect ratio and the stress ratio of the surrounding rock mass was influential to the stability of the caverns. In addition, the numerical results demonstrated that under the same conditions of rock mass properties and aspect ratio, mechanical stability could be improved by the reduction in cavern size (storage volume), which indicates that one can design high-aspect-ratio rock caverns by dividing a single large cavern into multiple small caverns.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.241-259
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• 2013

A packed bed thermal energy storage (TES) consisting of solid storage medium of rock or concrete through which the heat transfer fluid is circulated is considered as an attractive alternative for high temperature sensible heat storage, because of the economical viability and chemical stability of storage medium and the simplicity of operation. This study introduces the technologies of packed bed thermal energy storage, and presents a numerical model to analyze the thermal energy balance and the performance efficiency of the storage system. In this model, one dimensional transient heat transfer problem in the storage tank is solved using finite difference method, and temperature distribution in a storage tank and thermal energy loss from the tank wall can be calculated during the repeated thermal charging and discharging modes. In this study, a high temperature thermal energy storage connected with AA-CAES (advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage) was modeled and analyzed for the temperature and the energy balance in the storage tank. Rock cavern type TES and above-ground type TES were both simulated and their results were compared in terms of the discharging efficiency and heat loss ratio.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.184-196
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• 2019

This study aims to extract a 3D image of micro-cracks generated by hydraulic fracturing tests, using the deep learning method and X-ray computed tomography images. The pixel-level cracks are difficult to be detected via conventional image processing methods, such as global thresholding, canny edge detection, and the region growing method. Thus, the convolutional neural network-based encoder-decoder network is adapted to extract and analyze the micro-crack quantitatively. The number of training data can be acquired by dividing, rotating, and flipping images and the optimum combination for the image augmentation method is verified. Application of the optimal image augmentation method shows enhanced performance for not only the validation dataset but also the test dataset. In addition, the influence of the original number of training data to the performance of the deep learning-based neural network is confirmed, and it leads to succeed the pixel-level crack detection.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.309-332
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• 2021

Natural barrier systems surrounding the geological repository for the high-level radioactive waste should guarantee the hydraulic performance for preventing or delaying the leakage of radionuclide. In the case of the behavior of a crystalline rock, the hydraulic performance tends to be decided by the existence of discontinuities, so the coupled hydro-mechanical(HM) processes on the discontinuities should be characterized. The discontinuum modelling can describe the complicated behavior of discontinuities including creation, propagation, deformation and slip, so it is appropriate to model the behavior of a crystalline rock. This paper investigated the coupled HM processes in discontinuum modelling such as UDEC, 3DEC, PFC, DDA, FRACOD and TOUGH-UDEC. Block-based discontinuum methods tend to describe the HM processes based on the fluid flow through the discontinuities, and some methods are combined with another numerical tool specialized in hydraulic analysis. Particle-based discontinuum modelling describes the overall HM processes based on the fluid flow among the particles. The discontinuum methods that are currently available have limitations: exclusive simulations for two-dimension, low hydraulic simulation efficiency, fracture-dominated fluid flow and simplified hydraulic analysis, so it could be improper to the modelling the geological repository. Based on the concepts of various discontinuum modelling compiled in this paper, the advanced numerical tools for describing the accurate coupled HM processes of the deep geological repository should be developed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.494-507
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• 2021

With the increasing use of TBM, research has recently been conducted in Korea to analyze TBM data with machine learning techniques to predict the ground in front of TBM, predict the exchange cycle of disk cutters, and predict the advance rate of TBM. In this study, classification prediction of rock characteristics of slurry shield TBM sites was made by combining traditional rock classification techniques and machine learning techniques widely used in various fields with machine data during TBM excavation. The items of rock characteristic classification criteria were set as RQD, uniaxial compression strength, and elastic wave speed, and the rock conditions for each item were classified into three classes: class 0 (good), 1 (normal), and 2 (poor), and machine learning was performed on six class algorithms. As a result, the ensemble model showed good performance, and the LigthtGBM model, which showed excellent results in learning speed as well as learning performance, was found to be optimal in the target site ground. Using the classification model for the three rock characteristics set in this study, it is believed that it will be possible to provide rock conditions for sections where ground information is not provided, which will help during excavation work.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.502-517
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• 2022

As the use of TBM increases, research has recently increased to to analyze TBM data with machine learning techniques to predict the exchange cycle of disc cutters, and predict the advance rate of TBM. In this study, a regression prediction of disc cutte wear of slurry shield TBM site was made by combining machine learning based on the machine data and the geotechnical data obtained during the excavation. The data were divided into 7:3 for training and testing the prediction of disc cutter wear, and the hyper-parameters are optimized by cross-validated grid-search over a parameter grid. As a result, gradient boosting based on the ensemble model showed good performance with a determination coefficient of 0.852 and a root-mean-square-error of 3.111 and especially excellent results in fit times along with learning performance. Based on the results, it is judged that the suitability of the prediction model using data including mechanical data and geotechnical information is high. In addition, research is needed to increase the diversity of ground conditions and the amount of disc cutter data.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.298-311
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• 2022

Some problems, such as aging workers, a decreased population due to a low birth rate, and shortage of skilled workers, are rising in construction sites. Therefore research for smart construction technology that can be improved for productivity, safety, and quality has been recently developed with government support by replacing traditional construction technology with advanced digital technology. In particular, the motor grader that mainly performs road surface flattening is a construction machine that requires the application of automation technology for repetitive construction. It is predicted that the construction period will be shortened if the construction automation technology such as trajectory tracking, automation work, and remote control technology is applied. In this study, we introduce the hardware and software architecture of the smart motor grader to apply unmanned and automation technology and then analyze the traditional earthwork method of the motor grader. We suggested the application plans for the path pattern and blade control method of the smart motor grader based on this. In addition, we verified the performance of waypoint-based path-following depending on scenarios and the blade control's performance through tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.33-45
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• 2009

The conventional single-core PBDs have been widely used in order to accelerate consolidation settlement of soft grounds. When using the single-core PBD in a thick clay deposit, a delay of consolidation may occur due to high confining pressure in the thick deposit and necking of drains. This study is to compare the performances of soil improvement by the single-core and double-core PBD installed at a site in Busan New Port which exhibits approximately a 40m-thick clay layer. An in-situ test program was performed at the test site where a set of the double-core PBDs and single-core PBDs were installed to compare the efficiency of each drain. In addition, the discharge capacity of each PBD has been measured using the modified Delft Test. A series of laboratory tests for estimating in-situ soil properties have also been performed in order to obtain input parameters for a numerical program ILLICON. The discharge capacity of the double-core PBD is higher than that of the single-core PBD in the modified Delft Test. However it is observed from the comparative in-situ test and numerical analysis that there is no difference in the performance of ground improvement between the two drain systems. This discrepancy comes from the fact that the amount of water released during consolidation in most common field conditions is much smaller than the capacity of even the single core PBD. And thus, considering actual field conditions, it can be concluded that the single-core PBD has enough discharge capacity even in the thick clay deposit such as this test site.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.519-530
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• 2023

Moye's analytical solution was examined as a method for constant-head tests under steady-state conditions, and results were compared with transient-state analyses in in situ hydraulic tests. The sensitivity of hydraulic conductivities calculated using Moye's method increased with the length of the test section, which should be as large as possible under test conditions. Particularly in low-permeability media with less than 10^-8 m/sec of hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic conductivity is lower than that under transient-state conditions and can be recalculated by adjusting the boundary between radial and spherical flow assumed in Moye's equation. Constant-head tests performed in the research borehole at the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) indicated that transmissivities derived from the constant-head withdrawal test under transient-state conditions in low-permeability media were higher than those derived from steady-state tests, likely because the groundwater flow boundary was smaller than the "half of the test-section length"assumed by Moye's equation. When interpreting constant-head test results for crystalline rock, the hydrogeological properties of the medium may be better understood by considering assumed conditions accompanying analysis of the steady-state condition and comparing them with results for the transient-state analysis, rather than simply assuming properties based on steady-state analyses.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.509-523
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• 2023

The high-level nuclear waste (HLW) repository is exposed to complex environmental conditions consisting of high temperature, high humidity, and radiation, resulting in structural deterioration. Therefore, structural health monitoring is essential, and piezo sensors are used to detect cracks and estimate strength. However, since the monitoring sensors installed in the disposal tunnel and disposal container cannot be replaced or removed, the quantitative life of the monitoring sensor and its suitability must be assessed. In this study, the life of a piezo sensor for monitoring was assessed using an accelerated life test (ALT). The failure mode and mechanism of the piezo sensor under high temperature conditions were determined, and temperature stress's influence on the piezo sensor's life was analyzed. ALT was conducted on temperature stress and the relationship between temperature stress and piezo sensor life was suggested. The life of the piezo sensor was assessed using the Weibull probability distribution and the Arrhenius acceleration model. The suggested relationship can be used in multiple stress ALT designs for more precise life assessment.